The Death of Steemit's Curation Trails
Over a week has gone by since I heard from my Country Representative for the Italian Community @girolamomarotta, who with great distress informed me that the @steem-fanbase website had been attacked, and that the curation trail that he manages through the @steemauto.app had, during the same time, been altered, and not by the account owner @xeldal
He informed me that he privately contacted @steem-supporter, who is the owner of the privately run, non-open source, centralized Steem app, known to everyone as Steemauto, and as any normal person would do when finding that an app is not working as it should, @girolamomarotta attempted to report the "bug" to @steem-supporter in hopes of finding a solution.
My Country Representative told me in private that he was convinced that @steem-supporter had intentionally altered the curation trail so that the @xeldal account would give lesser % upvotes, and that he felt that @steem-supporter also was responsible for the attacks on @steem-fanbase, as this new app will clearly become competition for @steemauto.app
@steem-supporter, in a certain sense, felt the bloodhounds sniffing him out, and out of panic published a rushed post lamenting about how much he has suffered over the past year at the hands of bullies and envious Steemians. This post, in my opinion, was intended to distract people away from the underlying issue of the security breach that he is responsible for, namely, the altering of voting rules from within the @steemauto.app
Read my Story and comment --- Do read it please
Within this post, he published part of the private conversation that took place with @girolamomarotta
@steem-supporter accused the Italian Country Representative of being a "wolf" and claimed that @girolamomarotta was trying to bribe him to fix the curation trail in exchange for witness votes. @girolamomarotta then published more of the conversation showing that it was @steem-supporter who was actually extorting him for witness votes.
All of this naturally caused me to become very suspicious! So I brought the issue up on my podcast The Tino Take.
This podcast was offered in the comments of @steem-supporter's post, to which I received the following reply:
In this reply @steem-supporter acknowledges that he has no intentions of making his app open-source and that he is making modifications to the app. He further attempts to convince the public that he has contact with @xeldal and @enki and that they would be sending a public memo acknowledging that they are responsible for the changes in the curation trail. Those memos never arrived.
I then began looking into the voting record of @xeldal and @enki and noticed that they were suddenly upvoting @steem-supporter beginning in this month of May 2021. I published this curious finding in my community in the following post:
@steem-supporter appeared on the scene around April of 2020, during the STEEM/HIVE split, positioning himself as a dedicated supporter of Steem. He began several projects which led to the reanimation of the formally famous open-source app Steemauto, which allowed Steemians to create curation trails and manage auto upvotes. The old repository from github was cloned, and hence many former curation trails, and fanbase auto-votes, were reactivated. He also went on to manage a witness node for the Steem blockchain, and eventually on the 5th of June 2020 became a Top 20 Consensus Witness. He recently lost that status on the 13th of May 2021, which was 5 days after he first began receiving upvotes from @xeldal and @enki on his post Installing a Full API server with HF version 0.23.1 with MIRA. This is also the very same period in which my Country Representative noticed changes in the curation trail he manages, and reached out to @steem-supporter to find out why. On the 18th of May, @steem-supporter attempted to extort Witness votes from @girolamomarotta in exchange for "fixing" the curation trail:
On the 19th of May, @girolamomarotta received his last normal 50% upvote from @xeldal and @enki
The next day, on the 20th, that vote was changed to 25%
On the 21st, @girolamomarotta, outraged and concerned about the negative effect this would have on his activities, conceded to agree to give @steem-supporter Witness Votes in exchange for "fixing" the trail!
On the 23rd, after not receiving any Witness Votes, the upvotes were further reduced to 10%
On the 25th, the upvotes were raised to 15%
On the 26th, I published A Steem Con in Our Midst, as well as Are You a STEEM Supporter, or Does STEEM Support You?!, which I will talk about in a moment.
At this point, @steem-supporter was continuing to insist that he had nothing to do with these alterations, and that it was the account owners who were making the changes.
I also observed these irregularities in my posts, as I receive 30% upvotes from @girolamomarotta. On the 27th, I published Lungo il Sentiero del Denaro Sbucano i Demoni and received a 4.5% upvote from @xeldal, but did not receive the usual upvote from @enki
On the 28th, @enki magically returned for The Tino Take - Take 76
And as of the 29th, @enki is no longer matching the vote of @xeldal
As I was curious to understand why @steem-supporter lost his position as a Consensus Witness, I went to have a look at his transfer record over the past year and discovered that he has been siphoning hundreds of thousands of STEEM into his Binance accounts. So I published Are You a STEEM Supporter, or Does STEEM Support You?!
I then gathered some more information and published a post in Italian to inform my community of my findings and hypotheses.
Lungo il Sentiero del Denaro Sbucano i Demoni
What was very fascinating to me was the screenshot of the tool that @steem-supporter uses to alter the voting rules of the @steemauto.app and I noticed how @steem-supporter has a particular interest in... guess who... @enki and @xeldal
Please take note that @enki follows @xeldal with a 100% upvote, and in particular have a look at the fact that @steem-supporter can EDIT the fields, hence change the voting rules!!!
So congratulations @steem-supporter, you are very clever at coding, scamming and pretending to be a victim. @enki is now upvoting at 100%, all of @steem-supporter's posts, and many Steemians are cheering him on, as he gets financial results! And financial results are what matter in this dog-eat-dog world of corporate capitalism. It was George Soros who said, "I am basically there to make money. I cannot and do not look at the social consequences of what I do." I assure you that @steem-supporter cares very little about the consequences of his actions. Maybe this is all a capricious game of revenge for having lost his status as a Consensus Witness? Maybe this is an act of envy and jealousy towards the successful rebuilding of the Italian Community? Who knows for sure! What we do know, is that we Steemians have lost this battle, and are now looking in the face of the death Steemit's curation trails!
Proposal to Resolve the Problem
I take great pain in offering this proposal for a resolution to this problem. We are dealing with a serious security breach that will only further damage Steemit's reputation. I would like to call on our Consensus Witnesses to investigate this matter by checking the database to see if @xeldal and @enki have actually been active on Steemit during these past several weeks that this breach has been taking place. If they have not been active, then we are face to face with the uncomfortable reality that @steem-supporter has been altering the voting rules of two major Steem Stakeholders, without their consent. If this is the case, I humbly, and with great displeasure, request a Soft-Fork in which we freeze the @steemauto.app account, thus preventing it from executing any further upvotes.
Thank you all for your time and consideration!
@steemchiller @justyy @steem-agora @dev.supporters @future.witness @dlike @symbionts @rnt1 @steem.history @hinomaru-jp @inwi @protoss20 @rlawlstn123 @smt-wherein @hoasen @scissor.sisters @matreshka @maiyude @roundblocknew @steem-drago
such a shame that power games are taking place on this platform...i have no real knowledge of what has actually happened..i consider myself as a newbie and don't know technical details, but if there is one thing i can assure
It is that the Italian community is not only relevant to a bunch of people,
This community has done a really great work and has given support to many people who were not only Italians.
I personally love this community because it is ethical, fair, supportive and creative.
My support to the Italian community and may this problem be solved soon
Thanks for your beautiful words about our community.
Thank you @sardrt for your comment
I'm just telling the truth here ... the Italian community with the curation trails helped a lot of people with its support and through contests and not only Italians
The truth must be told ... this community is doing a great job and must be supported
Thank you for your support, it's always appreciated. I always find it sad when a new user of this platform arrives and finds all of these conflict within the system, but Steemit has always been full of problems because this is a very new and unique way of running a social network. One of the biggest obstacles here is that this system involves money, and when you put together our human hunger for money, with our human need to interact and communicate with others, you get the best and the worst of human nature. If you are a good person, with good principles and values, look to unite with those who are like you. If you are a greedy, money-hungry person, that's okay, we have those people here as well. We're all looking for a way to co-exist, and it is not an easy task, but we are experimenting to see if we can make it work. If we can't, in the long run we will fail, disappear or be replaced by a better system.
You are so right...you couldn't have said it better
like everything ,a reflection of our society...so is this
I really liked your approach, so logical and not at all emotionally affected
Absolutely! When dealing with this kind of very serious issue, which is making me a lot of enemies, it is very important to be as logical as possible, and to not be emotionally affected by the negativity. These kinds of fights are not new in my life, so I'm comfortable with what I'm doing, and I'm comfortable with my logic. I believe in the principle of "Occam's Razor" where one should "shave" an issue down to the core of the problem, then with that simplicity, find a solution!
I'm only five months into this platform and I came in with a lot of enthusiasm for this project...I thought it was based on solidarity and justice and that the goal was to grow the platform and spread the idea so that more people would come, but now I'm facing the fact that this is all just theories and the reality is very different from what many people want to claim.
I don't really know what is happening lately but i'm facing that many people with lot of power and influence are changing the rules for their own personal benefit and without giving any explanation to anyone
may be a result of the fall of the market and more specifically the steem
I am from Greece and I have seen it with my own eyes...that when the market is high and there is money around then all is well but when the market goes down and the money is dry then the masks come off
I can't believe that they can't understand that such actions can only hurt the platform but they obviously don't care much about it
So pity and so dissapointing :(
Your words warmed my heart.
Ours is a small community that wants to give support not only to Italians but to all those who want to be part of it.
Thank you so much for giving us your support openly, it is of great value to us.
Thank you for your kind comment @mikitaly
you have openly supported many people through your work and that is something we all should recognize
I hope this problem with curation trails to be resolved soon
I agree, yours are nice words, thank you. the Italian community has done a great job, and thanks to @girolamomarotta who rebuilt a community that had completely dissolved
buongiorno @stefano.massari grazie per il tuo commento
Yes..this is a fact..this community have gave support to many and different people and was one of the fastest growing communities and this is not a coincidence
I hope that things will go back to the way they were before.
E che dobbiamo dire dei voti al 100% di Xeldal , Enki dati a account appena creati proprio a Maggio ? Come ad esempio @two.brown.eyes e @tasteoftravel o @ilovekitties che non ha più scritto da anni, quindi tutti evidentemente account finti. La soluzione che proponi mi sembra ottima: abbiamo un ragionevole sospetto ed è giusto che i testimoni si attivino per verificare se ci sono i problemi di sicurezza che hai evidenziato. Ricordo , comunque, che anche anni fa erano stati rilevati dei voti alterati nei percorsi di cura...Quindi non stiamo parlando di fantascienza o complotti.
Grazie Daniela! Apprezzo molto il tuo sostegno, sopratutto in questo momento di battaglia, perché come ha giustamente detto la Miki, sono un bersaglio. E anche se sono un uomo forte, con una donna forte al mio fianco, è sempre un conforto in più avere il sostegno dei membri della comunità. Sto per farmi tantissimi nemici, ma ti posso assicurare a mille che non ho paura!!! Grazie ancora per il sostegno e per il coraggio di fornirmi altre informazioni di cui non ero al corrente!!!
Tranquillo Tino: siamo abituati a lottare per imporre le nostre ragioni. Ricordi cosa abbiamo dovuto fare all'inizio con @girolamomarotta per imporre le ragioni della nostra comunità e avere il giusto riconoscimento? Anche allora abbiamo documentato tutto e abbiamo avuto ragione. Quindi anche questa volta non ci lasciamo intimorire da ladri e lestofanti.
Giustissimo!!!
@famigliacurione, caro Tino, ho apprezzato molto questo post, perché molto dettagliato e scritto nei toni giusti. Non so, ma lo spero, che questo possa portare ad una soluzione che cerchi di rendere giustizia. In un sistema impostato così, purtroppo, è facile creare situazioni poco chiare e a rimetterci è sempre chi dipende da qualcuno che lo supporta. Sono anche d'accordo con @mikitaly riguardo al fatto di essere attaccati o ignorati. Quando si solleva la polvere però, secondo me, non è detto che tutto rimanga incompiuto, soprattutto se si ha ragione. Positivo anche il fatto che il numero uno abbia dato il suo supporto a questo post. Questo fa ben sperare sul futuro per la nostra comunità. Sono anche convinto che bisogna andare avanti imperterriti, siamo i primi come comunità a dover far vedere ai big che andiamo avanti sempre con la stessa determinazione. Anche questa in qualche modo è una sfida e sono convinto che noi abbiamo gli strumenti e la voglia per dimostrare che il nostro valore è ben superiore a ciò che fino ad ora stiamo raccogliendo. Sarò un ottimista retorico ma alla fine i valori hanno sempre la meglio sui comportamenti, quindi avremo la giustizia che ci spetta.
Hai ragione non bisogna mai perdere l'ottimismo e inizio a pensare che anche solo aver alzato questo polverone, ci abbia fatto vincere una piccola battaglia.
Nel suo post Tino ha rimesso insieme tutti i pezzi del puzzle e adesso la vicenda è chiara, talmente chiara che al momento non c'è nemmeno un commento negativo.
Possibile che tutti quelli che hanno attaccato Tino non lo abbiano ancora letto questo post? Oppure è difficile trovare le parole giuste per replicare?
Credo che in questo caso potrebbe calzare a pennello la frase "battere in ritirata". Di fronte all'evidenza schiacciante il silenzio è sintomo di ritrovarsi disarmati senza più poter replicare. Se i fatti, nei prossimi giorni, a livello di supporto intendo, ci daranno ragione vuol dire che Tino ha fatto centro, come giusto deve essere, come giusto deve sempre essere chiara l'umiltà e l'onestà di persone che credono in ciò che fanno con trasparenza e volontà d'animo.
Come avevo già detto alla Miki... "chi sta dalla parte della verità è sempre una maggioranza, anche se sia da solo davanti migliaia di bugiardi!!!" Sono contento che tu la pensi nella stessa maniera Mario; buon segno che anche tu hai dei buoni principi e valori.
Prima di tutto ti voglio ringraziare perché ti stai esponendo tantissimo per tutta la comunità italiana e sappiamo benissimo che su Steemit può essere pericoloso perché si diventa bersaglio di chi è più potente o di chi si nasconde dietro qualche bot.
Sono molto delusa perché sento che stiamo vivendo un'ingiustizia ma tutti si stanno girando dall'altra parte, non affrontando il problema perché su questa piattaforma quando viene messo in discussione un personaggio stimato da tutta la comunità per il suo lavoro, tutti sentono il dovere di difenderlo a spada tratta, senza però analizzare fino in fondo il motivo per cui viene messo in dubbio.
Adesso qui il punto non è più la comunità italiana, che posso capire interessa soltanto ad una manciata di persone.
Il punto è se è possibile continuare ad avere fiducia in un sistema che può essere manipolato nel quale se qualcuno prova a far notare che accadono cose sospette, invece di trovare supporto, viene attaccato o ignorato.
Mi chiedo se un'altra comunità avesse vissuto la nostra stessa situazione come l'avrebbe affrontata?
E come si sarebbero sentiti il suo team e tutti i suoi membri?
Come noi.. lasciati soli.
Grazie Miki! Posso chiamarti Miki? Grazie a te, e a voi, perché non mi sento solo in questo momento. Hai ragione, ora sono un bersaglio, ma come ho appena detto alla Daniela, "ti posso assicurare a mille che non ho paura!!!" L'anno scorso, quando ho affrontato la Commissione HIVE, ero veramente da solo, ma il mio maestro mi ha insegnato che chi sta dalla parte della verità è sempre una maggioranza, anche se sia da solo davanti migliaia di bugiardi!!!
Io sono d'accordo con tutto ciò che hai scrivo! Questo sistema non merita fiducia perché è ancora un sistema... diciamo adolescente, se non infantile... che ha bisogno di maturare. La nostra responsabilità al momento è di usarlo in modo più positivo possibile, unirci con le persone positive e scoprire i difetti di questo sistema per poi cercare coloro che possono rimediare qui problemi. Se arrivammo al punto che questo non è realizzabile, allora ci facciamo le nostre valigie, e ciao ciao!
Comunque, non siamo soli. Il numero uno dei Testimoni ha votato questo post a 100%. Credo pianamente che se ho scritto qualcosa di sbagliato, mi l'avrebbe detto perché mi conosce e non è uno che ha paura di far notare le cose sbagliate!
Mi raccomando, non ti scoraggiare troppo! OK!
Tino certo che mi puoi chiamare Miki.😁
Comunque è vero che quando sai di stare nel giusto non importa quante persone devi affrontare.
Sono contenta che senti il nostro supporto e sono sicura che, anche se non tutti se la sentono di lasciare un commento, in realtà siamo in tanti a stare dalla tua parte e a sostenerti.
Steemit ne ha passate tante e come dici tu deve ancora maturare, spetta a tutti gli utenti renderla una piattaforma migliore e il più trasparente possibile come una blockchain deve essere. Bisogna provarci.
.. Le valigie speriamo di farle solo per andare in vacanza..😜
Una situazione incredibile. Io non sono un grande esperto di tecnicismi e in alcune parti mi sono aiutato col traduttore, quindi Tino perdonami se qualcosa mi sfuggirà, ma credo che chi amministra "la baracca" non possa nascondere la testa dentro la sabbia di fronte ad una cosa simile.
Ne andrebbe della credibilità del sistema con conseguente abbandono di utenti e possibile crollo del valore dei token. Insomma, chi vorrebbe stare in un posto dove è così facile raggirare il prossimo?
Sono fiducioso che la cosa si risolverà per il meglio, nel frattempo pensiamo a come aumentare il nostro livello di indipendenza, che poi è la chiave di ogni vera libertà. Naturalmente hai la mia stima per averci messo la faccia e gli attributi.
Credo che questa è assolutamente la cosa più importante come prossimo passo!
it seems a complicated and complex story ... the slogan “demons appear along the path of money” is very attractive. Girolamo is doing a great job for the Italian community ... I hope he was not affected by this story.
He was affected negatively, but he is doing his best to keep his head up and move forward; we all are!
yes sir i read story but could not understand 😔
This is not good at all for this platform.
Having our own betray us.
Steemit has faced a lot of challenges in the past few years ranging from hackers attack to drastic fall in price of steem.
Yet we are standing tall even with the introduction of the hive blog.
I believe strongly that all this shall come and pass and we shall all win.
You are very correct my Friend, Steemit has been through a lot and will continue to go through a lot of challenges because it is not easy to build this kind of network where money can easily corrupt everything. But we need to welcome these challenges, and as you said, work hard to find a solution to whatever menace comes our way. We are still an experimental platform, so it is only natural that we will continue to go through these growing pains... but we are growing, and that counts a lot!!! Thank you for your words of encouragement!
You are welcome dear
Thank you too
And @enki magically returns to normal!!!